Jan 6, 2016

So I was so excited to see 17 followers, I thought I'd give you guys a sneak peek at Chapter Two! Keep up the great work everyone! We'll get this book out there!

Chapter Two- Hour One

            I stood in front of the building, my arms open, a smile resting on my face. The camera zoomed in on me, as I walked forward, my skimpy black heels barely keeping me up in the gravel laden drive way. The building loomed over me, shadowing me in a darkness that seemed more alive than just being a building. The viewers would never see the goosebumps that ran down my arm, covered my entire body in the summer heat.

            “On this Episode of Night Terrors, we step out of our usual haunts, and enter a new realm,” I state, before twirling and stopping in front of the camera. “Welcome to the Buckeye Nut Asylum.” The camera stopped, as I pulled back, and high-fived Shane. Ian put the camera down, and turned towards Mi Mi, where I preceded to take the keys from her.

            “I want to thank you so much for letting us do this,” I stated in the sincerest voice I could pull out, watching as she nodded.

            “I can only hope that you don't get killed in this,” She stated, before walking to her car, and driving away, leaving me and my crew to enter the devils layer. I sighed, taking the keys she just handed me and waved them at my men. A loud cheer erupted from them, as I tossed them at Shane. Shane walked over to the door, sliding the key in to the door, and turning. With a light push on his end, I watched as the door swing open to reveal a dusty and dirt laden hallway.

            I walked up beside Ian, who had just propped his camera on his shoulder. He looked over at me, and began to smile that looked to be a grimace. I couldn't be sure though.

            “Five Seconds, counting off in... 5... 4… 3...2...” He cut off, as he pointed to Shane, who was now leaning against the building, his mysterious look replacing the mischievous one he normally held.

            “We are about to enter the most terrifying place in Ohio, or at least thats what they say. I guess we won't find out until we get in there, huh?” Shane looked at me, as I walked towards him in smooth strides.

            “I don't know, looks kinda boring to me,” I stated, as Ian and Jake laughed in the background of the camera. Our audience knew that we had no special tech crew. That everything done, was done by us, the crew, and that nine P.M., which was in about an hour, we would lock everything up and all take a camera ourselves.

            “You would be the one to think that Blair. Not much scares you anymore,” Ian called out from behind the camera, as I held up a map for everyone to see.

            “Well, We'll have to find out how scary this place is because we get to split up on this one,” I stated, as I laid the map up against the building, and Ian and the camera came towards me. “There are four floors, and I want to be very thorough. We'll all spend about twelve hours on each floor, meet up and do a twelve-hour investigation on each floor together.” I paused dramatically, as Jake could be heard groaning.

            “Shane, you'll take the fourth floor. That was the doctors offices, and the head owners office place. That's where the guys came together, and hung themselves in a line.” I shivered for real. “I have no idea why you would do that, but they did, and I guess it made them feel better.” I looked over at Ian, giving my face direct sight to the camera. “Ian, you'll take the third floor. This is where the younger patients were held. There have been claims of children playing up there, along with several child-like screams.” I watched as Ian's eye twitched, letting myself give in to the snicker I had been holding back.

            “Oh, so I get the demon children. I'm going to remember that Blair,” Ian stated, in a playful tone, though the gleam in his eye said that a prank would be payback. I will need to sleep with one eye open until he forgets.

            “Yeah, suck it up. Anyway, I'm taking the second floor. I get the real crazy people, the ones that got tied to beds, and murdered the staff, and all that good stuff. There have been rumors of possessions, and violent acts. Poltergeist activity has been mentioned, which is never good. Fun. Fun.” I stated, as I pointed to the last floor and looked at Jake.

            He leaned on the building, arms crossed, blond hair in a ponytail, and body just as hard as he normally was during an investigation. The unnecessary flexing of his muscles drew my eyes to the unintentional bulging of his muscles, the strength of his arms, and.... his eyes focused on me as I stared at him. I felt myself tear my eyes away from him, attempting to keep my composure. I titled my head to the side and smiled as I attempted once again to put the past where it belonged, in the past.

            “Jake, you get the bottom floor. This is where the guy came down stairs and shot up a bunch of nurses, and doctors the year that the building was shut down. There have been massive amounts of voices from people who sound like doctors. There are also the warnings that are supposedly heard when they walk through that floor. There has been slight harm done to people there, and lots of impressions.” I paused looking to each man carefully, before landing on Shane, who looked back at me. Feelings, I have a strong gut instinct, and it has a habit of being right. With the amount of trouble, I feel coming, let it be wrong just this once. Please?

            “Be careful. We've got some strong spirits and strong emotions that have flown through this building. I'm not carting anyone out on a damn stretcher because they did something stupid, understood?” I asked, as the boys nodded at me. I looked at Shane, who glanced at the door. “Time to go in and get set up.”

            Fifteen minutes later, I sat on the floor, my legs crossed under my butt as I set up an infrared camera on my floor. Flashlight in my mouth, as it seems it gets darker in here quicker than it does outside, I pressed the button and heard the beep that signaled that I had signal. I waved at the camera sitting on the tripod, acknowledging that it was me, taking the flashlight out of my mouth, before picking up my hand-held and cutting it on. My walkie- talkie was attached to my hip, as I flicked it on, and cutting off my flashlight, and rolling it on the floor by the camera.

            I stood up, looking around the dark hallway, a shiver going down myself as I saw nothing. It was like staring down the hall in your house at night, after watching a horror movie. That burning knowledge, that nothing is there that can harm you, but you’re not sure just yet what is reality, and what is fiction. Sadly, I'd seen those lines blurred so many times that I couldn't tell you if there really was a reality, or not.

            I took a step forward, walking towards one of the rooms, pushing the door open, before walking to the next room, and doing the same thing. I did this for all the rooms, before coming back to the original room, and finding the door shut. I hadn't shut it, and I know that for a fact, especially after going through all the rooms to open them. I walked in the room, looking for a draft, but finding nothing, but a barred window that was sealed shut all the way around. No way for a draft to get in. I rolled my eyes, walking out the room. Maybe I just left it closed on accident, it sounded like me.

            I walked out the room, sitting on the floor in the middle of the hall, waiting, adjusting to the sounds that came from both above and below. That was the problem with lots of the ghost hunters that I'd ever met. They never adjusted to the sounds of the building. Never allowed themselves to welcome in certain sounds, acknowledging what would not, and could not be a part of building. Not only that, but I had men on the floors below. If they screamed, or made noise that would be easy to hear for the cameras, and not me due to the fact that I don’t know what I’m looking for, that’s a problem. It jacks up my evidence, since I don't remember him screaming, or the echo of the building caught the sound a minute or two late. So I listened, taking in the creaking sounds that echoed through the building and to me, telling me of its life, without the words. The same weary sound you hear from an older person, who was just tired. I let myself fall in a meditative state, just rested enough to stay calm, but not rested enough to not be able to pay attention to what is around me.

            I must have been like that at least fifteen minutes before my radio flared to life, and Ian's voice came on line.

            “Guys, did one of you yell?” He asked, a weary sound in his voice. I picked up my walkie-talkie off my belt as both Jake, and Shane responded with no's. I responded myself, as I listened closer, searching for something, maybe a creak that would echo like a scream.

            “Did one of the doors shut, Ian?” I asked after a minute, thinking maybe the wind had shut the door, causing the sound of an echoing scream.

            “No, I'm in the middle of the building, not anywhere near windows, so if things are shutting, it's not because of a draft. The building doesn't have air.” I paused, thinking everything over again, see if I could find some type of reason, but finding none.

            “Well, within the first hour we have something it seems,” Shane stated, after none of us had said something after a couple minutes. I nodded, before reminding myself they couldn't see me. I sighed, before going back to my meditative state.

            So we already have one incident, let’s hope that we can catch some good things while we're here. I would truly miss ghost hunting if I left. I loved it, a lot. I've been doing it since I can remember, and it had never let me down until a couple of years ago. When I finally agreed to stop posting it online, and actually allow them to record me, allow them to record the crew. It was a mutual decision, but I was the one that pushed it. I thought it was a good idea, but somewhere in there, the passion for the hunt, became a passion to be famous. I lost myself, and in a sense, lost my group.

            We no longer hung out with each other, and argued so much more than we had when we first started, and that was with the possessions, the family problems, the relationship fuck ups, and high school drama. We always stuck together, but we lost it somewhere in the money and the fame. We lost it in the idea that we were better than each other, especially after that massive fight. Jesus, what were we even arguing about?

            “What the fuck more do you want from us, Blair?” Shane snarled in my face as I pushed him back.

            “You to get off your lazy ass and help with some of the work load, you jack ass,” I yelled, as I slammed the lid to the tools shut.

            “Well, maybe if you weren't such a stuck up bitch, you'd see all that we do for you. Then again, your names back in the papers, so what the-” I don't remember punching him. Ian's arms wrapped around my torso, as I went to lunge at him, and Jake's arms wrapped around Shane's as he lunged at me.

            “What is wrong with you both!” Ian yelled, as I was yanked back in to the reality of the situation.

            That was when I went to the producers, and told them I was leaving. That was when Shane realized how fucked up our relationship had become. That was when I realized that I would much rather be poor, on the streets, than to deal with this anymore than I have to. If that meant leaving behind the job that I loved, the type of career that I lived for, then I would do it. I didn't want to lose my friends.

            So when Shane begged me not to leave, and I agreed to this, I wanted to see if I could bring the group back together, remind them why we were friends, why we started this. I was truly surprised to find them understanding what I was seeing. I think, maybe, just maybe, I'll stay even if we find nothing. Just to make sure we don't lose everything.

            I was pulled out of my thoughts by a scream, a horrified sound that sounded like it came from below us. Before I could put my walkie-talkie to my mouth, it flared to life.

            “Who was that?” Shane yelled in to it, as I put it to my mouth.

            “Not me, but it sounded like it came from below us, Ian, Jake?” I asked, my hands shaking as I brought the walkies-talkie up to my mouth.

            “Not me, though it sounded really close to me. Has anyone heard from Jake yet?” I waited, before clicking.

            “Jake, you there?”  Silence reigned, as I waited.

            “Jake, are you there?” I heard Shane ask slowly. Again, the silence wafted around me. I stood up, picking up my camera with me, pointed down the hall, just as another scream echoed down the hall. I stopped in my tracks, before running towards the door with the stairs.

            “I'm headed down there to check on him, keep talking to me, guys,” I yelled in to my walkie-talkie, as I clambered down the stairs.

            “We're here, do you think that was Jake?” Ian asked, his voice low in the walkie.

            “It sounds like his scream. Remind me if it is him to tell him he screams like a girl. I don't get how people think he's the big tough one.” Shane said, as I ran down the stairs.

            “It's the big boy look, they don't get it,” Ian stated, as I finally made it to Jake's floor. I rushed through the door, and bumped in to him, literally.

            “Holy fucking shit of a donkey cat, why are you down here?” Jake asked, as he pointed his camera at me. I stared at him, taking in everything there was about him, before laughing. I clicked my walkie-talkie.

            “I don't think it was him guys,” I stated, as I pulled out his walkie-talkie to show that it was already fully dead. We had just put new batteries in them, and checked them thoroughly before we left, so there was no mistake that something killed those batteries, or maybe they were just bum batteries. It's happened before.

            “What did I do now?” He asked, as I pointed my camera at him, before pointing it down the empty hall way.

            “Did you scream?” I asked, still staring down the terrifying halls. What is up with the added darkness of the building, really?

            “No, and I haven't heard one either. I thought that was Ian who heard the screams? I told you guys it was clear down here.” I turned back to him, breathing heavily.

            “All three of us heard a scream at the same time. It sounded like it was coming from your floor, but you weren't responding. Your walkie is dead, so you didn't hear us.” I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding in. I heard more than saw him pull out new batteries out of his pocket, before taking the walkie in my hand, and popped the new batteries in it. It flared to life as Ian and Shane continued their non-important conversation.

            “Guys, I'm back on line. My walkie's battery died, so I didn't hear y'all. I wasn't the one that screamed though.” He stated clearly in to the walkie-talkie, looking at me all the while. I shrugged, turning back to the stairs, and back to my floor.

            “Hey, Blair,” I turned at the top of the steps, and looked at him, “I think we've signed up for much more than we can handle this time. My gut is freaking out.” I nodded, walking back up the stairs. I had that feeling too, but we won't abandon this case.

            I walked through the door I had gone through to get to the hall, only to find something off. All the door, all the open doors were closed. Not one or two, all of them, as if while I was downstairs, something came out and shut all the doors. I blinked, thinking maybe I was in the wrong hall, when I identified my camera sitting where I had left it. All of us had tagged our cameras with different color duck tape to make sure we didn't land on the wrong floor, and start repeating the same process all over again. It was my tape. On my camera. On My Floor. With all the doors open. And no one on the floor. Fuck.

            I went door by door, and opened the door again, coming back the middle of the hall, to find half of the doors I had just opened were closed. I walked in the door of one to find that it was one of the rooms in the middle of the building, so there were no windows, therefore there was no draft. The door swung in towards the room, instead of out in to the hall, so there was no way a draft in the hall would have caused it to close. I sighed, pulling out my walkie-talkie again.

            “Hey, I get that you guys want to keep me around, but this is ridiculous. I don't need you to come to my floor while I'm not looking and shut all my doors. That's just annoying.” I walked back to the rooms and opened them when my walkie flared to life.

            “Blair, boo, I hate to tell you, but no ones been on your floor,” Shane stated, as I rolled my eyes.

            “Shane, I wasn't gone that long. There is no way in hell that a ghost could shut a floors worth of doors in less than a couple minutes.” I pushed another door open, and sighed as I looked in on the damaged bed, and chains that connected to the metal base of the bed.

            “Blair, None of us were down there, and you were with Jake. We have video feed of us on our floor.” I paused, halfway out the door, looking at my watch. I was 9:45, and we had less than fifteen minutes before we were out of our first hour in the house.

            “Shane, this place is not that haunted. Even if it was, we normally don't get any response until we egg them on, and we don't try that until later. Normally around hour 4.” I walked over to the middle of the floor, no longer staring at the camera, but down the hall.

            “Blair, I have no idea what is going on your floor, but we aren't behind it this time. We've got about ten minutes until we check our camera's. Why don’t you check yours a little early and see if you catch what is shutting them?” Jake’s voice came across, as I stared down the hall.

            “Did you hear any slamming noises, Blair, Baby? It might be the hinges on the door causing the door to shut unexpectedly.” Ian's voice came across. I flinched at his nickname for me, while I stared at the hall.

            “The hinges on all of the doors bad? I can understand a couple, but all of them?” Silence echoed through the radio as I waited.

            “Check your camera, It's a couple minutes early, but check it anyway.” I shook my head, walking over to the camera happily resting on the stand. I picked it up, screwing mine down on the stand. I turned the camera to me, and smiled in the camera.

            “Check One,” I stated clearly, as I turned it back around and cut it off, so that I could access the memory for it.

            For a couple of minutes I watched myself open all the doors that were once shut. I thought back to the one door that was closed after the first run, and watched myself open it. I blinked. No, I had to have left that door closed, there is no way in burning hell it could have closed by itself.

            I continued to watch as I went room to room, focusing on that one door. So I didn't miss it when the door shut quietly, as if there was a sleeping patient in the room. Well, fuck me, it had shut by itself. I skimmed ahead, to where I ran downstairs watching in amazement as all the doors shut by themselves at the same time, with no help. I felt the breath I had been holding in escape me, as I rewound it and watched again as the doors shut by themselves. I picked up my walkie.

            “Guys, I got something,” I stated in a clear voice.

            “Are you serious?” Ian's voice came across, as I clicked it back on and allowed it to go back to recording.

            “For shizzle,” I stated, as I picked up my camera again. It was ten o'clock, and we were officially recording hour two.

Again, Thank you for all the effort and time that you put in to this! Let's get this book out there!